Why Do You Blog? You Might Be Surprised {My 16th Blogging Anniversary}
Today August 8, 2024, is my 16 year blogging anniversary. On August 8, 2008, I clicked “Publish” on my first blog post. What a journey!
I’m updating this previously published post to include why I CONTINUE to blog today.
A Random Blog Comment?
I opened my email on the last day of July 2024. Newsletters, offers, ads, blah blah blah.
Then an email comment on a blog post. Blog comments are my favorite emails to read.
But this one made me pause. It was from a stranger. It started like this:
“I just came across your blog. Your message was just what I needed. . . .“
I read it all the way through.
Then I took a deep breath. I needed to read this one twice.
Reasons to Blog
If you blog, why do you do it?
You must have good reasons because blogging can be costly . . . in time, in energy, in thought, and sometimes in money. Blogging asks questions of us: Are we sharing too much? Are we not personal enough? Is our effort even worth it?
We probably share many of the same concerns, and same reasons, for blogging.
Perhaps you blog:
- To encourage others
- To teach something you know
- To make friends with like-minded people
- To share your art
- To sell a product
- To connect with your family
- To entertain
- To document your story
- To learn new things
- To make the world a better place
But when you blog, here’s a surprise you might not expect . . .
As you blog, you are often the one encouraged. You are the one entertained. You are the one invited to be a better person.
We think we blog to give something to the world.
And hopefully we do.
But as we blog, the world gives even more things back to us.
Maybe we gain an insight we wouldn’t have realized without writing out our words. Maybe we make a genuine friend in the blogging community. Maybe we learn about contentment as we post on quiet days.
We often receive far more than we give.
Gifts in Both Directions
After re-reading the blog comment from Tina in Canada that Wednesday morning, I felt humbled. Because although it has been almost 10 years since I wrote the post she was commenting on now (“Body, I Forgive You”), I still need the reminder in 2024 about what I was preaching to myself in 2014.
What Tina also reminded me of that morning was our need for perspective. She reminded me that throwing something on my blog every few days might be more useful than I realize. Not because I have something profound to say, but because profound things can happen despite our meager offerings.
The blog post was about appreciating our bodies instead of criticizing them. Tina, a competitive volleyball player, was feeling the aches and pains that come with an aging body.
But after reading the blog post, she listed the things she could still do with her body:
“I can walk, cuddle with my man, give hugs, work, dance, and hang with friends, and I am healthy.”
I’m grateful that my body still serves me in those ways too (although I don’t allow it to dance near enough).
Ten years ago when I wrote that post, I didn’t know that today it would come back to remind me again of a lesson I still need to learn, to show kindness and compassion to my hard-working body for all she continues to do for me.
And to feel the kindness and compassion that I have received for 16 years from this blogging community.
Whatever it is you expect to give by blogging, I hope you give it.
But I also hope you receive so much more in return.
If you blog, too, what difficulties does it bring? But also, what joys do you receive?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Read more:
- Is There a Future in Blogging? 14 Reasons to Keep Writing Your Blog
Here are 14 reasons to keep writing your blog now and into the future. - The Sweet Spot of Your Project
Long-term plans for a project are important. But the sweet spot for your work is today.
revised from the archives
I’m linking at these blog parties
- When Compassion for Others Takes a Sharp Turn: A Lesson in Vulnerability
- Overlapping Moments: Find Life’s Magic in Shared Time
Hi Lisa, wow, what a welcome back!!! Thank you for featuring my blog post on yours. I am so excited. So many points in your post are exactly how I have felt, you blog not realizing the positive impact on someone else, you strive to encourage, but you yourself get encouraged too. I have so missed this community. Have a very blessed weekend and keep up the great encouragement!
God bless
Tracy
Lisa, Nick brought you such precious encouragement. And hope. Can you even imagine the stories you will hear one day of the impact your words have had on others! May we keep writing, staying hidden, and let God do the true and lasting work! Blessings!
Lisa, this is so timely, such a gift as I figure out what blogging looks like in this season of grief. I thought I would shelve it because I don’t have the energy or focus to run all over the place visiting others’ websites. But I came back because this is a priceless community in my life and has been since 2008. I needed my friends’ encouragement and grace even if I couldn’t necessarily make it back to their place to comment.
I’m finding it such a blessing to have a place where I can unpack and share in ways that honor my mom. And get that support I didn’t know I was craving.
I know that I’ll be back, ready to roll again at some point. But til then I’m grateful for the gift of online affection.
xo
Dear Lisa! So good to see you blogging away faithfully! I think we long for the simpler days, no matter what sort of days they are, right? There is always that sense of remember when I started and how do we keep that sort of spiritual fortitude and momentum to what God has called us? I have had a few people reach out and affirm for me the benefit they felt when I shared something on various platforms…it is so amazing how God can work beyond our comprehension to touch others around the world…and also edify and encourage our gifts in one another as we share them, and when we both have recieved and freely given His grace gifts in us…seeking His will for my writing currently…and simplifying my path or narrowing as I am out in a lot of directions ( as usual!). Sending love, in His Grace- Enthusiastically, DAwn
It’s wonderful encouragement to hear from a reader that God has used you in his or her life.
This was so helpful for those days when, I ask myself why I do this thing called blogging. To be honest, sometimes I just don’t want to do it anymore and I have hovered over the “delete blog” button for a L-O-N-G moment. Nevertheless, there was a whisper in my ear that said, “We’re not finished yet” and so I persevere with posting daily on My Life in Our Father’s World.
Father, I’m in for the long haul. I will keep writing until you tell me it is time to do something else! AMEN
Love this post Lisa! I blog to encourage all those who visit my little corner of blog space always ready with a cuppa.
And I love sitting with everyone who joins me there, for I receive encouragement from them too, which was an added bonus that I didn’t realise was coming when I first started blogging.
Bless you,
Jennifer
This is so lovely to read Lisa! I have received more from blogging than I could ever have imagined when I began, purely on a whim nine years ago. Now I can’t imagine life without it, nor without all the people I’ve connected to through it — including you! Glad we can all keep encouraging other on this little adventure called life.
Thanks for all the ways you stand along the road cheering us on as we run! So glad Nick did that for YOU!
Lisa, I’m so glad Nick took the time to write to you about the impact that blog post had on him and his fiancé. We just never know, do we, how our words might touch someone else in a meaningful way? There are times when I look at the reach of my blog and wonder why I’m even still doing this. Then I think about all the wonderful people I’ve met this way (including you) and how they have touched my life with their words—in blog posts as well as comments—and I’m so grateful.
I’m not surprised at what Nick said, Lisa. Your writing and your commitment to post regularly and diligently make a difference to a lot of us.
This post made me think about being more regular in my blogging too.
Thank you for all you do!
What a wonderful gift, indeed. I am so glad to hear about Nick and how your blog has helped him and his fiancé. That is amazing! Blogging is time consuming and it can be discouraging especially what it’s like to blog these days. But telling our stories and sharing things that are important because it can be helping someone else.
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
This is a timely post for me, Lisa. What wonderful encouragement to us that our simple words can make a big impact for someone else. I have a bit of a mantra on that subject…it’s written on my bulletin board in front of my desk and says “You don’t have to be profound. You just have to write.” Somehow this one comes round and round for me.
Those kind of comments make it all worth it.
What an encouraging blog, Lisa. I am happy with what you received and it encourages me to continue blogging as a Christian woman in the Netherlands. you give me a surprising look at what i do. I’d never seen it like that.
And I’m also glad Tracy is back!
What a profound question. I often feel as if I blog (and write) for an audience of One (or maybe two, if you include my mom). I needed the creative outlet; I used to think I wanted to write a non-fiction book (and thus needed a platform). Ten years later, I’m at the point where I’m not sure why I blog. I’ll be spending some time this summer reviewing my why.
It is brilliant when that happens (happens to me very occasionally on my work blog — but obviously with much less import). Blogging must be unique for offering that sudden strong connection between writer and reader.
I blog (in this persona) mainly to work through things I can’t work through anywhere else. If I were bolder I might pray about some of those things. I think writing for an imagined public encourages me to strive for things like purpose, clarity and honesty. It does mean the blog ends up rather downbeat, …
I am much happier reading 🙂 I love hearing a person’s own voice and personality in their writing.
Aw, what a wonderful email to receive!
Why do I blog? Wow, Lisa, that can be such a loaded question for every blogger out there! I have had the same experience from time to time that you illustrate so well here. We put our words and thoughts out there, and never know whose hearts and minds we might touch with encouragement or kindness or both. Yes, blogging takes up a lot of time (why I dropped to only one post a week with all Danny and I have been through), but I can’t NOT write. It is an integral part of who God made me to be.
I’m grateful, too, that I’ve made so many friends like you through blogging, too. Blessings, my friend!
My dear friend, you have no idea just how timely this post is! You see, I just recently went through a season of questioning as to whether or not I should continue to blog. It’s not the first time I’ve been at that place, and each time I have prayed about it and asked myself many of the same questions you posed here. I
In the long run, I have been blessed by the kindness of others way more than I feel I have contributed to the world. I have grown as a Believer because of the wisdom of fellow bloggers (people like you ????) . And so I continue on. When I think back to those early days (I think we started blogging around the same time) and think of you and Julie and the Love Dare challenge we did together I think of just how blessed I have been.
Congratulations to you on 16 years of encouraging others as you have encouraged me. xx
Dianna, I just read your book review, which was well done, and I would have commented to thank you for taking time to share that; but somehow, I could not find a place to respond on your blog; so I will do so here, with thanks. Keep writing. Keep encouraging. Keep changing lives, one blog at a time!
Blessings,
Lynn Morrissey
Lynn, I thank you for your very kind words you have left for me here. I was in tears as I read them. I thank you also for taking the time to read over at the blog. I’m sorry you couldn’t find a place to comment. I just double checked to make certain that I hadn’t checked the box for no comments and everything looks okay from my end. Again, thank you so much for extending His lovingkindness to me.
Lisa knows me well, Dianna, and I’m technologically disadvantaged, to put it mildly! 🙂 I just saw how to comment at Joyful in His Presence, and was able to comment now. You didn’t do anything incorrectly; it was *I* (as it usually is in these cases)! 🙂 In the meantime, if you will private-message me on FB w/ your email address, I’ll send you a piece I published at author Jennifer Dukes Lee’s former blog, encouraging other authors to keep writing. I’d be pleased to email it to you b/c Jen has changed her format, and I’m not sure I can retrieve my piece easily. She’s working on a new release, so I don’t want to bug her about locating it at the moment. 🙂 God bless you in your writing efforts, dear Dianna. Keep on keeping one, one word, one keystroke at a time!
Love
Lynn
Yikes, that is three smiley faces. You gotta keep smiling, though.
L
Miss Lisa!
One of the best things about your blog for me, personally, is that I have been able to connect w/ a lovely, likeminded sister from Alabama. I’m in Missouri, as you know, so had you not blogged, I would not have read, I would not have commented, and we would not have gone on to establish a friendship. I was about to say virtual friendship, and in the sense of the word today, it is; nonetheless, to me it is REAL, as real as you are in all you write. I also love reading your insights about a myriad of topics. Have you actually prepared blog purpose, mission, and vision statements? Funny. In the years I’ve read here, I’ve not bothered to check, because I love EVERYTHING! Even when I don’t comment, it doesn’t mean I don’t read with great interest; life, simply, happens, so I’m not always in a position to comment. Truly your blog is anything but BLAH, BLAH, BLAHG!!! more like a BLESSLOG! And you know, Lisa, I never sense this as a braggadocio showcase for your writing, in the sense that you are not trying to draw attention to yourself in a egocentric way. Do you write well? Yes! But it’s not about YOU. It’s about others, ultimately. And I think that the Lord blesses you from time to time w/ that encouragement from someone, even ten years later, whom God used your words to change and bless. We need encouragement as authors, because our vocation is extremely isolated. Other, say, that joining a writing or journaling group, we write alone.
I have never blogged. I consider it from time to time. That said, I, too, have been blessed similarly, when, quite out of the blue, someone will email about how God used my book on prayer-journaling, published now, AMAZINGLY!, twenty years ago, to draw them closer to the Lord! Wow. Until I really recalled that, adding up the years, I didn’t realize it was that long ago. But it makes gives me satisfaction and joy to know that, while a book which was not a bestselling blockbuster (BY ANY MEANS), is discovered by someone who runs across it as “used,” that God still “uses” *it*, to bless her! Granted, I wish I’d sold more copies, and that the publishing industry had not downturned so significantly shortly after my book’s release, because I love to write. Publishing is ultimately a business, and they won’t publish authors who do not render them financial profits. So, everything for me just stopped (including public speaking, which I also love; this too dried up b/c of low book sales, and a horrific case of shingles for me, on the brink of a big speaking engagement, which I was unable to keep). Alas.
So. now, I use my writing in small ways . . . such as a contributing author to Charles Stanley’s In Touch Magazine for several years before that folded, guest-blogging occasionally, writing cards and texting, praying still to encourage women, generally, and personal friends and family. And if I can but encourage *you* to continue doing what you do so well, then I shall be immeasurably blessed! May God continue to bless your writing (and your poetry) in reaching others with the Good News of Jesus Christ!!
Love
Lynn
PS And I LOVE your book reviews, though Michael may blame you for more book purchases! Ha! More often, though, he goes to the library a lot for me (still not driving due to vertigo). BTW, not sure if your library does this on the check-out receipt, but it’s brilliant! They list both the book and how much $ you saved by not purchasing it–a big incentive for my dear husband! 🙂
Congratulations Lisa!
I understand what you’re saying here as I too have experienced this many times. The blogging world is a joy & while writing for our blogs can be challenging, especially when we blog each week, through all the ups & downs in life.
The joy comes from the people we meet along the way & the lessons we learn.
God’s grace abounds in both.
Visiting from Tamar’s today.
blessings, Jennifer
Does it make sense to say now that I cannot not blog? I was thinking about that the other day that it would be hard to quit this now as I love to express myself in this way. to find the words each week. to be creative. to explore or explain some experience. I cannot not write. It is just a part of me anymore and blogging is a way for me to be me.
I find it very hard to explain why I blog. I think as I have got older it is partly to keep my mind active and to reflect. I hope that other people enjoy what I write and I love getting comments and connecting with the authors.
Happy 16th blogging anniversary, Lisa!
Lisa, I liked this, “Not because I have something profound to say, but because profound things can happen despite our meager offerings.” I too like how my older blogs have brought back lessons I’ve forgotten or needed reminding of. You have a gift for creating titles too. Maybe you can write a blog on that! Congratulations on 16 years of blogging.
Happy blogiversary! 16 years is amazing. I loved your thoughts here. I used to blog personally–that started when I moved across the country (just about as far as you can go) away from family and friends. It was a lovely way to keep in touch and not feel so lonely. As my friends moved more toward social media and away from blogging, I did, too. That was, however, in part because my kids were getting older and sharing their adventures became more challenging as they didn’t really want to be shared. In 2009, though, I started a business blog, which falls into several of the bullet point categories you listed: teaching something new, encourage, connect with others, sell a product, and make the world a better place. I haven’t really put into words (for a while) why I blog, so this post was a nice reminder. I also appreciated your thoughts on how blogging goes both ways. It really, really does! 🙂 Visiting from the Crazy Little Love Birds linkup.
Happy 16th blogging anniversary, Lisa. Thank you for sharing this special milestone with us at #weekendcoffeeshare.
Congratulations on your blogiversary. Why do I blog. Such a big question Lisa. I’m currently writing a post about blogging, as my blogiversary is coming soon. The reasons I started are different to the reasons I continue. The biggest and most unexpected thing I get from blogging is connection.
Happy 16th blogging anniversary! I love it when I visit a blog and am able to read something inspiring or learn a new recipe, or maybe even create a new home project. Blogging has allowed me to share things with others, whether it’s inspiration, a new craft idea, or just me sharing my life. The blogging community is wonderful. Lisa, thank you for sharing your wonderful post at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party #50.
Congratulations, Lisa! You inspire so many with your dedication to blogging regularly, being faithful to ‘community’ features and just by being You – sincere, reliable and inspiring! ♥
I love how posts we’ve written many years ago come back around to encourage and remind us of so many things. I’d have to say the main reason I blog is to help others—to encourage them. But so many times I’m the one who learns. Congratulations on your blogiversary. I’m so glad you started blogging and have continued. Your blog is one of my favorite homes on the internet.
Congratulations, Lisa. Such an achievement!
I was very passionate about blogging and playing my violin and the light went out on both of them about the same time, and I’m not really sure why. I have kept my blog going, but I reached a space issue with my current blog and upgrading my plan is a big financial commitment I can’t justify and so I’ve deleted some photos to give me some breathing space and am not sure what I’m going to do down the track.
Best wishes,
Rowena
This is so great. I mostly use my blog now as a sort of online journal/diary of sorts and enjoy several linky parties…sometimes I would like it to be more but I just don’t think I have the time to give. SHeesh, sometimes I can’t even manage to get around to commenting on other peoples posts (which I’m doing right now while getting an oil change). I would love to post more recipes, more life thoughts, but haven’t seemed to find the time.
How awesome! (I will be popping over to read that post.) What an amazing thing to have given a perspective that was so helpful to a reader – and for her to let you know.
I actually have two blogs. And I use a pen name for one of them. Not to hide my identity, but because I want them kept totally separate in my mind and as well as my two separate audiences. The blog topics are entirely different. I want my two audiences to know what to expect when they visit my blogs.
My primary reason to blog is to connect with others who share similar interests. And I’ve been lucky enough to have had those internet friendships turn into real life friendships. I also think blogging helps me order my thoughts. Also, I love to learn from others and I hope that my blogs help or inspire others.
Off to read the other post!
Hi Lisa, Congrats, just to let you know that your post will be featured on Monday at SSPS 324 https://esmesalon.com/tag/seniorsalonpitstop/
I have met a lot of cool people and I have learned a lot of things from blogs. It keeps my brain from becoming mush and it encourages me that people are decent.
Lisa,
I originally commented in 2022 but my comment shows as:
“May 13, 2022 at 3:00 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
So I’ll just copy/paste my original comment. (Gotta love technology)?!?!?
This was so helpful for those days when, I ask myself why I do this thing called blogging. To be honest, sometimes I just don’t want to do it anymore and I have hovered over the “delete blog” button for a L-O-N-G moment. Nevertheless, there was a whisper in my ear that said, “We’re not finished yet” and so I persevere with posting daily on My Life in Our Father’s World. (I no longer post daily because I work FT, go to school FT, and have taken on other new things in the last couple of years.)
Father, I’m in for the long haul. I will keep writing until you tell me it is time to do something else! AMEN
Congratulations on blogging for sixteen years! I am so glad you have added your words to the mix of bloggers. I can’t tell you how many times you have encouraged me. I agree that what I give comes back in so many ways. But I’m still going to ponder your question. I’m featuring your post this Friday as our most clicked post from August. Maree.
16 years is an incredible milestone, congratulations! I love how you’ve woven together the idea of giving and receiving through blogging. The story of Tina’s comment was so moving; it’s amazing how something you wrote years ago can still resonate with someone today. I think it’s the gift of connection that keeps bloggers like you going year after year. Here’s to many more years of blogging, learning, and growing!